Baseball Places 12 on All-Conference Teams; Asher, Szczerba and Hindmon Take Home Major Awards

Apr 25, 2012

WINTER HAVEN – Following another successful season for the Polk State baseball program, the Eagles on Tuesday earned 12 All-Suncoast Conference selections and a trio of major awards.

Polk captured three major awards voted on by Suncoast Conference coaches, including Pitcher of the Year Alec Asher, Player of the Year Conor Szczerba and Defensive Player of the Year Erik Hindmon.

Asher enjoyed a wonderful season on the mound and worked effectively as the team's ace. The sophomore posted a 10-1 record and led the state with 100 strikeouts and had an ERA of 1.33. At one point during the season, Asher was riding a 24-inning streak in which he did not give up a run.

Hindmon had an outstanding freshman season for the Eagles. The catcher did not make an error behind the plate in 47 games. He drove in 37 runs, stole nine
bases and has a batting average of .298. Hindmon also led the state in fielding percentage with 1.000.

Szczerba capped off the regular season by being named a back-to-back FCSAA Baseball Player of the Week in the final two weeks of the regular season. The team's starting second baseman hit .429 in Conference play, led the state in stolen bases with 36, and scored 64 runs. Last week, in his final regular season contests, Szczerba drew five walks and was hit by a pitch twice en route to reaching base in 14 of 18 plate appearances.

Chastain, another member of the most successful sophomore class in program history, hit 301 with 32 runs scored and 16 stolen bases. Hankamer is hitting .307 with 34 RBIs and six stolen bases. Burnham is 2-0 with three saves and he has an team leading ERA of 1.18. Norris has a record of 6-2 with a 1.83 ERA.

Wrapping up Polk's Second Team All-Conference selections are freshmen Matthew Singletary and Brett Jones. Singletary posted a .318 batting average. He also drove is 35 runs and stole 16 bases. Jones played in the right outfield as well as pitched for the Eagles is hitting .305 with 25 RBIs and has a record of 2-0 and a 1.54 ERA.